The Price for My Soul
by Spunky0ne
Summary: In the bowels of Muken, Orochi Kuchiki suffers the agony of incarceration for the crime of carrying an immortal demon within his soul that has caused him to the horrid crimes that resulted in his conviction. Fate hands him one chance to kill the beast and earn his freedom. But is it worth the price?...yaoi, mpregs...Aizen/Gin, Orochi/Tetsuya, Renji/Byakuya
1. No Peace for an Angel

**The Price for My Soul**

**By Spunky0ne**

**(A brand new Aizen story just in time for AIZENMONTH! Thanks going out to devoted Aizenlovers Picklez80 and Aizenfan6969 and to Starliex for putting Orochi in my mind at just the right time! You guys are the best and I very much appreciate your loving support! Enjoy the new story!)**

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**In the bowels of Muken, Orochi Kuchiki suffers the agony of incarceration for the crime of carrying an immortal demon within his soul that has caused him to the horrid crimes that resulted in his conviction. But fate hands him one chance to kill the beast and earn his freedom. But is it worth the price?...Aizen/Gin, Orochi/Tetsuya, Renji/Byakuya**

**XXXXXXXXXX**

**Chapter 1: No Peace for an Angel**

Renji felt the bed move and one cinnamon colored eye opened to observe as his captain and new husband sat up slowly and started to slip out of bed. As the Kuchiki leader moved, Renji tensed, then struck like a snake, curling his arms around Byakuya's slender, naked body as he dragged his noble mate down onto the bed and kissed him hungrily.

"Mmmph!" Byakuya managed around a mouthful of Renji's hot, probing tongue, "Mmmm, Renji…I thought you were…ah…sleeping."

"Yup," the redhead affirmed, brushing a handful of messy autumn strands out of his face, "I was. But, you tried to get outta bed. Not happening."

"Oh?" Byakuya mused, arching an eyebrow, "You presume to command the leader of the most powerful noble house, do you?"

"Heh, maybe not out there," he answered saucily, indicating the garden doors, "In here, you said we were equals, ne?"

"That is what I said," Byakuya agreed, giving him a lusty smirk, "So then, is there something you want from me?"

Renji's grin turned delightfully rakish.

"More sex?" he asked, "If you're not too tired from last night. Oh, and if you don't have to get somewhere important right now."

"Hmm," Byakuya mumbled as the two shared another rough, open-mouthed kiss, "I do have an early meeting with the elders."

"Aw, fuck," Renji sighed, deflating as he flopped down beside his noble mate, "Okay."

Byakuya turned and mounted the redhead, spreading his creamy thighs and rubbing against him provocatively.

"Oh, now you wanna go and tease me," Renji huffed, trying to wiggle out from under him, "Maybe I don't feel like…"

His words were cut off as Byakuya's mouth crashed into his, and his husband's fingers laced together with his, holding his hands down as he writhed erotically against the redhead, making his awakened member thicken, harden and begin to leak in anticipation.

"Maybe," Byakuya growled in his ear, "I don't feel like arriving on their schedule. I am, after all, their leader."

"Oh," Renji purred, raising his hips to intensify the warm, arousing contact, "I like the way you take charge, _Captain_."

The last word evoked a smoky look from Byakuya's dark grey eyes and he raised himself and reached down to take hold of Renji's hardened arousal.

"Do you?" he asked, smirking as he guided the redhead's thick member to his already slick entrance, "Then, you will not mind me _taking charge _of _this_."

"Ah!" Renji gasped, closing his eyes and clenching his teeth at how good it felt as Byakuya joined their bodies, "n-not at all, Captain!"

"Abarai, what have I told you about using my military designation while we are in bed?" the noble scolded him.

"S-sorry," Renji giggled breathlessly, breaking out in a sweat as he tried to hold still to give Byakuya time to adjust, "B-bya…!"

His teeth clenched and his words were cut off as Byakuya's hips moved, causing a deep reaction in the redhead's heated loins.

"Oh, now you are disrespecting my given name?" Byakuya teased him.

"N-not at all," Renji groaned, sweating more profusely as Byakuya lifted himself and began to ride him, "Just lost my breath a little on that last move. That felt really, really good, Byakuya."

"Hmm, and how does this feel?" Byakuya asked, sinking his fingers into Renji's long, tumbled hair and pulling a little as they ground against each other.

"Oh…ah!" Renji panted, thrusting harder and faster into his lovely partner's undulating body, "_fuck_, feels so good!"

Byakuya's hips moved meticulously, working the redhead into a handsome frenzy, then slowing teasingly as Renji approached orgasm. He waited until the redhead was about to climax, then he lowered himself onto his husband's heaving breast as the last few hard thrusts brought them to completion.

"You are beautiful, Renji."

If the pleasure of their joining hadn't undone him, then the tender words that came from those soft, warm and usually frowning lips would have made him come twice. He groaned out an unintelligible reply, hugging Byakuya's body tightly as his hot essence filled the panting noble inside. He rested quietly on Renji's chest after, listening to the heavy pounding of the redhead's strong heart.

"I love you."

"Love you too," Renji chuckled, sliding a hand down Byakuya's naked back to caress his soft bottom.

They had nearly drifted off to sleep, when a warm, reddish glow rose around their resting forms, and the two felt a flicker of something that felt like a connection opening. Byakuya's eyes opened, and he sat up next to his curiously watching partner.

"You okay?" Renji asked, "What was that glowing?"

Byakuya looked back at him wonderingly.

"That," he said breathlessly, "was the result of our strong soul resonance. Renji, we have made a child!"

"What?" Renji said, breaking into a huge smile, "We did? I mean, I _knew_ Urahara said that the resonance he sensed was strong enough, but…really? We're really gonna have a baby?"

"Yes," Byakuya said, hugging him tightly, "we are!"

Outisde in the gardens, Tetsuya stood quietly at his post, politely ignoring the intermittent sounds that escaped the clan leader's room. But the red glow, when it appeared, lured him closer, and he caught his breath softly, letting his hand slide down to touch his own slim belly.

_They are having a child?_

_Oh, Byakuya will be so happy. Renji too. I'm so happy for them!_

He looked down at his body, suffering a twinge of returning worry. His mind went back to the recent end of the Soul King Protection War and the events that followed.

_Byakuya returned to find that the family compound had been attacked, and that, of the large group of defenders who went out to protect them, only Orochi and I returned. The family successfully escaped as we fought, so the only casualty were the fighters we took with us. I was badly injured in the fighting and Arashi was forced back into my body to try to save my failing systems. Orochi, too, was injured, and his father was killed in the battle. He carried me to family's retreat location and staggered into the camp, where he collapsed. The healers approached, ready to help us, but that was when Kurohebi, Orochi's power, went out of control, and could only be suppressed with the full strength of the elders and Byakuya, himself._

_It was then that they discovered what Isas's subfamily has hidden for ages._

_That power…the power of Orochi's serpent spirit…is not his own power at all, but the invasion of a transcendent snake that invaded the body of their subfamily leader two generations before Isas was born. And every time a new heir was chosen in the family, the snake invaded the heir and destroyed all but a sliver of the host person's true zanpakuto._

_The elders tried, but they could not separate the snake spirit from Orochi's soul. Then, they decided to have him executed to snuff out the snake. With Isas gone and no one else to defend him, Orochi was easily convicted of allowing the snake spirit to consume his zanpakuto in an attempt to gain power, although I learned many years ago when in contact with Orochi, that the snake was forced on him by his own father. As they attempted to take his life, the snake emerged and fought them. And in the end, as several elders were killed, they realized that the snake's transcendent soul was too powerful to be killed. Instead, they handed him over to Central 46 and he was placed in a cell in Muken._

_I'm sure that everyone thought I would be relieved that he was gone. After all, Orochi and I have a long, violent history…mostly because of that snake spirit. Back when I was incarcerated in the illegal noble's prison, Itamigiri, Orochi acted as a spy for Byakuya, but while doing that, he found me…and the snake spirit noticed something unusual about me._

_I have transcendent power in my soul, although it has not made itself evident, and I haven't been able to awaken it. It was useful to Kurohebi, in that the transcendent snake needed to feed on it regularly. Even after my emancipation from the prison, the snake spirit allowed Orochi to enter my room without being seen or sensed by the guards. The snake was careful to leave no sign of having been with me, and the abuse continued for all of this time._

_The truth is, I don't really know what kind of person Orochi would be…if Isas hadn't forced Kurohebi into his body all of those years ago. No, I don't know Orochi at all. The only time I've ever felt like it was him with me…was in the last moments of the battle with the quincies, who were trying to attack the encampment. The fighting was so fierce, so terrifying and it forced us to the ends of our strength. As the last of the quincies fell, and Orochi and I collapsed onto the bloody ground, side-by-side, the snake spirit burrowed down inside him and I remember that…for just those few moments before I blacked out, Orochi's eyes looked down at me without the usual aggressiveness, and…they weren't their normal black._

_Orochi's eyes were dark blue._

Tetsuya felt a shudder inside as he recalled a chill night spent in a rocky cave near the battlefield.

"_Stop fidgeting," Orochi scolded him, holding Tetsuya's body tightly against his, "If you want to survive, we need each others' warmth."_

"_Y-you have no w-warmth!" Tetsuya spat, his teeth chattering._

"_Stop it!" Orochi snapped, hugging him more tightly, "Your body is unstable. I can't heal you properly, so you have to last through the night."_

"_You don't care about me," Tetsuya accused him, "You only want me because that thing needs me!"_

"_The snake is recovering!" Orochi shouted, grabbing Tetsuya and holding him down as his cousin tried to wriggle away from him, "He can't even feed on you yet. Calm down. I am in control."_

"_I wonder," Tetsuya speculated agnostically as Orochi held him tightly and tried to infuse him with healing reiatsu._

_After several minutes, he examined Tetsuya's body briefly and sighed worriedly._

"_The infusions aren't working, Tetsuya," he concluded, "Nothing is getting to your spirit core. I can think of only one way to reach it."_

_Tetsuya paled and struggled harder, trying to escape him._

"_No! Don't touch me!"_

"_Do you want to die, Tetsuya?" Orochi snapped, "Let me get the power to your spirit core, of you won't survive the night!"_

"_I'm not…l-letting you touch me! I'd rather die right here! Get off of me!"_

_He made a sound of agony as his weakened body shook and he collapsed against his cousin. Orochi glared down into Tetsuya's widened, scared eyes, and to Tetsuya's surprise, they were again turned dark blue._

_The snake is dormant," Orochi said more calmly, "I will be gentle with you. You would die if I was rough like the snake is. Hold still, Tetsuya."_

_He was sure it was the last thing he wanted to do, but as Orochi's hands began to remove their clothing, his hands felt uncharacteristically gentle. Tetsuya's objections ceased, and he simply watched silently as Orochi rose over him and he cautiously joined their bodies. The coitus that followed was the gentlest interaction Tetsuya ever remembered them sharing, but as Orochi's heat filled him, he began to lose consciousness. The last thing he remembered was Orochi's sound of surprise and the presence of a soft blue glow between them._

Tetsuya sighed, rubbing his belly gently with one hand as he gazed up, into the early morning sky.

"I think the time is coming, little one," he breathed softly, "We will need to go to him for the infusions, or we would have to tell someone, and I'm afraid of what would happen if they knew. The elders never understood Kurohebi. They would probably be afraid of you being infected by the snake spirit too. They don't understand that there is a ritual for doing that. They would force me to abort you without even trying to understand. I do understand their fear, however…I am also your mother, little one. It is up to me to keep you safe, and going to him is the only way to do that. I just wonder…what Muken has done to him."

He looked off into the distance, in the direction of the prison, his bright sapphire eyes troubled.

XXXXXXXXXX

Orochi woke suddenly to the feel of someone yanking on the heavy spirit chain that was wrapped around his body, and pulling him to his feet.

"Get up, now," a gruff voice ordered him.

A low groan is all that the black-eyed Kuchiki allowed himself to yield as he was dragged out of his cell and to a guard post.

"That bastard, Aizen's got to be fed, now that the council ordered perks for him helping in the war. We're not risking people who would actually die, so you're gonna feed him."

Orochi started to give a scathing reply, but the guard shifted slightly to show him the electric prod he held in his other hand.

"Don't get feisty," the guard warned him, "C'mon. Aizen don't like his food cold."

Unable to conjure the energy to object with the reiatsu sapper they had placed on him, Orochi limped along with the guard to where the food waited. He took the plate and quietly approached Aizen's cell, where he waited at the door as it was opened for him.

"Heheh, I know you can't die," the guard mocked him, "but if we're lucky, he'll shred you up a little, just like you deserve, pretty noble boy! Get in there, now."

He gave Orochi a shove that almost made the plate fall from his hands. The black-eyed Kuchiki barely managed to regain control of the plate in time to keep it from toppling. He flinched as the door to the cell slammed shut behind him, and he slowly approached Aizen Sosuke.

"What have we here?" Aizen asked as Orochi reached him, "You smell like a Kuchiki. Flowery…but with a touch of something else. Something _powerful_. Will you come closer?"

Orochi moved forward.

"Who are you?" Aizen asked, "Are you from the Kuchiki family?"

"That is none of your business," Orochi snapped softly, reaching him and moving a table to set it in front of the wicked former captain.

He laid out the meal, then walked back to the controls that held the reiatsu suppressing bands around the other prisoner.

"Do I know you?" Aizen persisted, "Your reiatsu feels familiar. Will you remove the coverings on my eyes? I would like to look at you."

"Just be quiet and be glad that they're feeding you," Orochi chided him, releasing Aizen's left hand and arm, as well as his head, "Some of us who also fought the quincies aren't so fortunate as you."

Aizen blinked as his eyes were uncovered, and he glared at Orochi, studying him closely.

"Hmm, I think we have met before," he concluded.

"No," Orochi said, off-handedly, "we haven't."

"Oh, but I think you're wrong about that," Aizen said, smirking, "You…are Orochi Kuchiki, are you not?"

Orochi scowled.

"What if I am?" he asked coldly, "What difference would that make?"

Aizen's smile sent a little chill down Orochi's spine.

"Well, that depends on you. You see, you are just the person I think can help me…and if you help me, then I will help you."

"And why do you think I would ever want help from the likes of you," Orochi asked angrily, "Traitor!"

"I am a traitor," Aizen agreed readily, "But then, who are you that is a noble son, but who is cast into this dreaded pit to be completely forgotten by everyone? Who are you, Orochi?"

Aizen's brown eyes narrowed.

"Are you also, perhaps, in possession of a power that Central 46 cannot kill?" he asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Orochi lied.

"But, of course you do," Aizen said smoothly, "You remember, don't you? You showed me that power, when we met in Itamigiri, years ago."

Orochi's breath caught and Aizen laughed as he began to devour the hot food in front of him. He paused in the midst and looked at Orochi, revealing, for just a moment, a familiar face.

"What the hell?" Orochi hissed, "_You_? The scientist who came to examine Tetsuya? I _saw_ you die!"

"Yes," Aizen agreed, "You most certainly did see me die, but…that was an illusion, just as my face was back then. I didn't die in Itamigiri. I was just done with that place, so I faked my death."

You were there gathering information for your takeover?" Orochi asked.

"No, I was there to examine Tetsuya Kuchiki, to determine if I could make another breeder male."

Orochi's eyes widened.

"You wanted to make a breeder male? Why? The procedure was outlawed, many hundreds of years ago. Why would you want to do that to anyone anyway?"

Aizen gave him a look of complete seriousness.

"I was in love with someone and wanted to give him my child."

Orochi stared at him in silence for a moment.

"Unfortunately, I learned shortly after that the little snake had plans to kill me. He seduced me and pretended to love me, only for the purpose of killing me, so in the end, I killed him."

"Gin Ichimaru?" Orochi asked.

"The same," Aizen affirmed, "However, I have since come to rather regret doing that. You see, I only learned in the end that what Gin really wanted was just for me to restore a bit of his friend's soul that I took and fed to the hogyoku. I've desired, since that time, to know if he could somehow be restored…and… the very day that you arrived here, in Muken, the hogyoku assured me that, not only could you help me restore Gin, you could help me get out of Muken."

"What?" Orochi snapped, "You are insane if you think I would ever do that!"

He rose and turned away, heading for the controls to restore Aizen's loosened bonds.

"Tetsuya Kuchiki is pregnant with your child."

Orochi froze.

"That's not possible."

"Of course it is," Aizen said sedately, "He is a breeder male, and you two are resonant souls. You were together without a protection charm when you tried to save his life by penetrating him to reach his spirit core with your reiatsu."

"Who told you this?" Orochi shouted, "Who told you those lies!"

"Ah, I think you know very well that is the truth," Aizen pressed, "But, be stubborn, if you must. It won't matter."

"Go back into darkness, you filth!" Orochi growled, resetting Aizen's bonds.

"You know what this means," Aizen said, using his reiatsu to speak, even though fully bound, "He will need to reach you to have the infusions to stabilize the pregnancy. If he does not get them, the baby will die. And if he does sneak in here…into Muken, he will constantly be at risk. I can protect the two of you."

"Huh!" Orochi scoffed, "In exchange for what? I have nothing I can offer you at all. I am just as incarcerated here as you are!"

"Hmm," Aizen's voice purred, "You are only here because of that snake that has you in its grip."

"And?"

"And…if Tetsuya comes here, I can help you kill it. If you kill it, then you can be freed, ne?"

Orochi thought for a moment, then loosed a ragged sigh.

"Maybe."

"No, the hogyoku assures me that you will go free. But…if I help you, then I want you to help me."

Orochi's eyes widened as the bound former captain finished making his request.

"Well," Aizen asked, "what do you say? Feel free to withhold your answer until Tetsuya arrives. It should be very soon."

Orochi said no more, but silently left the cell and let himself be led back to his own. He laid down on the poor cot, looking up at the ceiling as the snake's soul pulsed under the heavy seal that held him back.

_I should have killed you long ago_, the beast hissed furiously.

"Funny," Orochi mused, smirking a little, "I was about to say the same. I only wasn't sure that I could win. I think…I am sure now."


	2. Karma and the Coiled Snake

**Chapter 2: Karma and the Coiled Snake**

**(Warning - non-graphic references to rape/non-con sex)**

Orochi heard the approaching footsteps and soft, hissing voices and knew immediately what was about to happen. It happened frequently in Muken to those not as dangerous as Aizen, those who simple numbers of aggressors could overcome.

_Because of the hogyoku, Aizen is still able to attack anyone who touches him. They weren't able to kill me, but the elders were able to successfully seal Kurohebi so that he could not attack. And since my own zanpakuto was as good as destroyed many years ago, I only have the natural strength of my own reiatsu and my innate abilities. They are formidable, however…_

He watched silently as a group of four night guards slipped into his cell and shut the door behind them. They paused for a moment, then began to approach him.

_Bound and weakened as I have been, while I cannot die, I also cannot fight them. They know this and that is why they dare to lay hands on me._

"Good evening, Prince Orochi," said the first of the four cloaked and hooded men, in a mocking voice, "I hope you don't mind if we join you for a little bit of _fun_."

_I suppose it's karma_, he thought as he felt his clothing being hastily loosened and he felt their rabid eyes raking over his already bruised flesh, _After all, when I was a spy in Itamigiri, I did take advantage of the prisoners. I never did so in a pack. I didn't like to share. But…once I found Tetsuya, I lost my interest in the others._

He ignored the guards and held back stubbornly from making any sound as the attack commenced.

_I would be lying if I said that it was all Kurohebi and no part me. I did enjoy Tetsuya's body sinfully, and on many occasions, and never, once, did I care at all about his will or his comfort. Kurohebi dominated me and I dominated Tetsuya. This is all I have known since I was a child. I don't know any other way. But…living a life focused around dominance and submission means understanding that if I cannot dominate, I will be forced to submit. The bonds on me make me the submissive. It does not mean that I choose this, but that until the bonds are released, I cannot enact my will. I will not give these swine the satisfaction of any response, but will take this torment quietly._

It was a matter of pride to Orochi that he held onto his determination and made no sound, except a few small gasps and choked grunts at the worst of the pain. To the best of his ability, he focused inward, rejecting all of the hateful words and torments the men inflicted.

_The hatred they pour into this is nothing like the hatred of the demon snake that inhabits my soul. There is no greater power, but also no greater torment than that. I learned that the day I laid helpless while Kurohebi devoured all but a sliver of my beautiful sword spirit, Eika._

_It's strange._

_I can still remember her voice._

"Look at that," one of the guards' rough voices said mockingly, "Made'im cry."

And indeed, he was shocked to feel a dampness on his face. His mind shot back to the expression he had seen Tetsuya wear so many times before.

_When Tetsuya cried, I ignored his tears and his sounds of sadness and pain. Nothing he did made any difference. He was a submissive, serving his dominant partner. I am a submissive, serving the ones who dominate me. This…these tears make no sense. They are useless. And yet, they fall anyway._

_Well, they will fall silently._

He ignored the dampness on his cheeks and the continued insults of the men assaulting him. His mind drifted back to Tetsuya.

_Tetsuya thought his tears were a manifestation of his weakness, his inability to stop what was happening. I told him that was true. I told him that, but now that they fall from my eyes, they don't feel like weakness. Instead, it almost seems that the hurt these men are causing is dripping away with each tear that falls. Is that what tears are, then? Not weakness, but a bleeding away of weakness? Indeed, I do feel…like I am getting stronger, more immune to the violence._

_I wonder, Tetsuya, is this how you survived?_

Orochi registered suddenly that the last of the torments had stopped, and he was being released and dragged to his feet.

"Time to go and feed the beast," laughed one of the guards.

_You think Aizen Sosuke in chains is a beast?_ he mused, _Kurohebi is inside me all of the time._

One of the guards swore as Orochi's legs quivered and he collapsed onto the cell floor.

_Ah, not all of the weakness is gone. While the tears strengthened my will and my determination, my body is another story. It is in a sad state. Kurohebi must be disappointed. I am sure that when we reconnect…if…he will torture me for that._

"Get up, you lazy, bastard prince!" the man scolded him, "You should have more pride than that."

It was also a matter of pride that Orochi managed a swift punch to the man's gut that dropped the guard onto the floor beside him. Rage welled up in the guard's eyes and Orochi felt himself being dragged back to the cot in his cell, laid down and beaten until he was senseless he couldn't move at all. Of course, Kurohebi wouldn't let him die, and after a short time, the damage began to very slowly heal itself. Orochi's mind spun so hard that he barely noticed when the guards finally left him, and a faint translucent form appeared in a corner of his cell. The figure resolved into the body of the very man he had been thinking of during his own beating, and Orochi's dizzy senses finally registered he was there.

"Ah, Tetsuya," he panted weakly, "I was told to expect you. I wasn't sure whether to believe my ears."

"Someone told you I would come?" Tetsuya asked, looking around anxiously.

"Don't worry," Orochi chided him, "No one out there. It was another prisoner who is gifted with some foresight. Aizen."

"_Aizen_ told you I would come?" Tetsuya repeated disbelievingly, "Did he tell you why?"

Orochi was stopped from answering as Tetsuya's sharp eyes adjusted to the darkness of their environs and he spotted the partially healed damage to his cousin's restrained form. He flash stepped forward and began to unbind him, but Orochi quickly stopped him.

"Don't be stupid," he scolded Tetsuya, "It won't do any good to release the bindings unless you are going to take me with you when you go, and since I was given a death sentence, they wouldn't hesitate to give you one too."

"But you're hurt! I must at least heal you," Tetusya insisted, "Look at what those monsters have done to you!"

Tetsuya's hands reached out, but Orochi stopped him with a seething glare.

"No."

"I _must_, if you are going to give me an infusion of your reiatsu."

Orochi's dark eyes blinked slowly.

"Then, it is true," he said in a low, unreadable tone, "You are pregnant?"

"I am," Tetsuya affirmed.

Orochi gave him a probing look.

"And you are sure that the child is mine?" he asked quietly.

Tetsuya gave him a stricken look, then with shaky hands turned and revealed the back of his right shoulder, which was marked with the name of the prison he had been incarcerated in, as well as his first name and prisoner number. Just underneath was a tiny snake tattoo.

"I don't know why you would ask me a question like that," Tetsuya said, his voice shaking slightly, "You know that I have had no lovers since…"

"I have been here awhile," Orochi said indifferently, "I thought that with me effectively dead, his mark would have faded and you would have moved on."

Tetsuya looked down at his still slender belly.

"Sometimes, it is hard to move on…especially when the past will not let go of me."

"You mean the snake?" Orochi asked, frowning, "He is sealed away, Tetsuya."

"I wasn't speaking about Kurohebi," Tetsuya answered, moving closer to him, "I was talking about you."

"Me?" Orochi mused, "I am a lowly, forgotten prisoner. I am bound here and can't do anything to you."

"You did _this_ to me," Tetsuya said firmly, "and you and I both know that it wouldn't have happened if you didn't lo—"

"Enough!" Orochi snapped, "You came here for an infusion, right?"

"Yes."

"Then, let's get it over with."

"Not until you allow me to heal you," Tetsuya said stubbornly.

"I told you no!" Orochi scolded him.

Tetsuya's sapphire eyes darkened and looked down into his with surprising force.

"Very well, then," he said, frowning, "feel free to try to stop me."

"Tetsuya!" he objected, his eyes widening.

Healing power flared around Tetsuya's soft hands, and where they touched Orochi, it felt worse than being burned by the heat of a fire-soaked blade. His teeth clenched and sweat broke out on his forehead.

"Damn you!" he swore, when he felt his resolve crumble, "I don't want your _pity_, you useless little…!"

"Am I useless if I can heal you?" Tetsuya asked calmly, "Or do I just have a power that a brute like you finds hard to understand?"

"Tetsuya…stop this."

"And anyway, I don't pity you at all," Tetsuya corrected him, continuing the healing.

"You don't?"

"No. Perhaps, the evil we do does have consequences," he suggested.

"Is that right," Orochi growled softly, "Then, you think I am just paying the price for raping and tormenting you? I deserve what those guards did to me, and we both know it, don't we?"

"I don't think you deserve to be raped and beaten," Tetsuya said quietly.

"No? But then…?"

The blue light around Tetsuya's healing hands intensified, lighting his lovely face.

"I, of all people, know that you will not be defeated with hatred equal to your own," Tetsuya explained.

"You are delusional," Orochi said mockingly.

Tetsuya's blue-lit eyes blinked slowly and fixed again on his.

"What breaks a truly dark heart is not hatred, but…_love_."

Orochi's eyes fared and he struggled under the bonds.

"Stop this. I said STOP, TETSUYA!"

"No," Tetsuya responded calmly, "I am stronger than you right now, so you will not be telling me what to do."

"Don't touch me! I'll…I will…!"

"You'll what?" Tetsuya said, keeping his sapphire eyes locked on his cousin's dark blue ones, "You can't move. You don't have that snake to help you. What was it you used to tell me? Oh, I think it was…just be quiet and do what you're told. When you are stronger than me, you can have your own will. For now, you will bend to mine."

"You bastard!" Orochi screamed as Tetsuya's relentless hands and gentle reiatsu continued to flood his restrained form, making the physical pain melt away, but scorching his heart that he was sure was already black and burnt into ash, "D-don't!"

Fresh tears leaked onto his face and ran down in streams, and through them, he could see that Tetsuya was crying silently for him.

"D-don't _do _that!" Orochi howled, "Don't you dare _sympathize _with me! I am a monster. I hurt you, and I would do it again, if I ever got free. Just…just take what you need from me and get out, Tetsuya!"

Tetsuya's hands slowly worked their way down Orochi's bound body, carefully erasing the horrid damage that the guards had done.

"They had no right to touch you," he whispered, stroking the bruised skin tenderly as he healed the angry marks, "You are a noble son, and if your father was here, you would never have been put in this awful place."

"My father was a monster, too," Orochi panted, calming slightly, "H-he's the one who forced Kurohebi into my body…"

"When you were just a child," Tetsuya finished, "I know."

Orochi gave him a surprised look.

"When the snake drained me," Tetsuya explained, "he had to form a connection with me to do so. This…gave me access to flickers of memory sometimes. And yes, I agree that Isas was a monster, but he was made that way by his father too. The original evil came from your ancestor, who welcomed the snake into his body to cheat death. He is the one who inflicted this endless wrath onto your subfamily."

"And if he _hadn't_, our entire subfamily would not exist anymore," Orochi asserted, "If it hadn't, maybe your family wouldn't have been imprisoned at all."

"And maybe they still would have," Tetsuya countered.

He sighed softly and sat back, brushing hand over his face to get the unruly strands of his hair out of his eyes.

"Is that better?"

Orochi glared at him and gave no answer.

"Now, I will need that infusion," Tetsuya said, looking down at him and releasing his upper body.

Orochi reacted instantly, intending to grab his slighter cousin by the throat to punish him. But to his surprise, his hands simply clenched at Tetsuya's clothing and dragged him closer for an angry, desperate kiss.

_What am I doing?_

_I can't be doing this…_

But his mouth savaged Tetsuya's and his cousin surprised him by kissing him back, as one of Orochi's hands slid down to begin the requested infusion.

"I should kill you."

"You're not strong enough to do that," Tetsuya said, proving the words by pushing Orochi's still-weak body back down, "so don't talk about killing anyone. The only man with a right to say that is one who has the strength to carry through with the threat."

"I suppose you are right," Orochi sighed wearily, relaxing and continuing the warm reiatsu exchange, "Do as you will, then."

Tetsuya gave him a little smile and stood. He bared his lower half, then climbed onto the cot and straddled Orochi's body, while his cousin looked up at him silently and said nothing as Tetsuya slowly prepared himself, then sank down on the restrained man's swollen arousal. He sat astride Orochi as Orochi's hands caressed his soft belly and provoked his own hungry member.

"You don't want to penetrate me?" Orochi mused, "Even when you are stronger than me, Tetsuya?"

"And take the chance of a bit of my reiatsu leaking in to feed and strengthen Kurohebi?" Tetsuya reasoned, "That would be stupid."

"Hmm, and you are still reckless," Orochi replied, pushing his hips upward as Tetsuya's body ground against his.

"You are helping me to bring this child to life," Tetsuya said more softly, "and…hopefully, he will never suffer what you or I had to. He will never know the weakness of being dominated and he will never know the pain of lying helpless while that monster eats his zanpakuto."

"No," Orochi agreed.

_Although this is not because I will be locked up in Muken. No, as soon as Aizen carries through on his promise. As soon as he frees me…_

He felt an odd sensation and focused again on Tetsuya, who was tracing a little pattern onto his breast as they made love.

"What is that?" he asked curiously.

Tetsuya's movements slowed, and his head bowed so that his lips touched the marking he had made, lighting it for a moment with his power. After, he lifted himself and continued to writhe atop Orochi's body, looking down into his cousin's darker blue eyes, unsmiling.

"I wear the marking of the snake," Tetsuya answered, "but now, you wear mine."

Orochi's frown deepened.

"And what will it do?" he asked.

Tetsuya inhaled sharply and moaned as his pleasure began to peak. Orochi's hands gripped his waist, pulling him down hard as he began his own release. The two quieted as the heavy throbs of orgasm reduced them to soft gasps and moans of completion. Tetsuya laid down on Orochi's chest, carefully resetting the bonds on his upper body.

"I don't want to leave you here," Tetsuya whispered, looking at him sadly.

"This is where I belong."

"No," Tetsuya insisted, "you should never have had to suffer Kurohebi's incursion and possession. Kurohebi may belong here, but you, at least, deserve a chance to break free of the darkness that has surrounded you since you were an innocent child, Orochi."

"I was _never_ innocent," Orochi assured him, "Nor will I ever be."

Tetsuya leaned down to brush warm lips against his earlobe.

"You forget what I was able to see."

"Illusions…" Orochi lied, "You shouldn't believe the snake's lies."

Tetsuya smiled.

"I won't believe yours either," he said, slowly standing and setting his clothes back in place.

Tetsuya returned to the corner of the cell and his body shimmered softly as he began to disappear.

"What is that marking, Tetsuya?" Orochi asked again.

He was forced to live with his curiosity until some hours later, when the guards reappeared and their closeness caused the sigil Tetsuya had left to flare up with a perfect image of the coiled snake spirit. Orochi laughed as the cowards backed away, forgetting in their haste to refasten his bindings properly.

And with that tiny opening, Orochi escaped his bonds and headed immediately to Aizen's cell.


End file.
